Shervin Shahnavaz

Shervin Shahnavaz

Lecturer
Visiting address: Norra Stationsgatan 69, plan 7, 11364 Stockholm
Postal address: K8 Klinisk neurovetenskap, K8 CPF KCP PT/HU, 171 77 Stockholm
Part of:

About me

  • PhD, psychologist, psychotherapist
    Lecturer
    Shervin Shahnavaz, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, and Psychotherapist at the
    Centre for Psychiatry Research and Centre for Education & Research at
    Karolinska Institutet (KI) and Region Stockholm. His research focus is on
    transcultural aspects of psychotherapy and developing digital interventions
    for vulnerable migrant groups in society. He organizes courses and teaches
    subjects such as Cognitive behavior therapy for PTSD, transcultural
    psychotherapy, global mental health, and psychological aspects of
    sustainability. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Council for Environment and
    Sustainable development at KI and involved in the design and implementation
    of sustainability strategies at KI.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

Employments

  • Lecturer, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 2017-

Degrees and Education

  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 2017
  • Master, Psychotherapy, Department of psychology, Stockholm University, 2016
  • Master of Science in Psychology, Psychology, University of Gothenburg, 1996

Distinction and awards

  • Excellence in Neuroscience Annual Reward (EINAR), Greta SChettini, Shervin Shahnavaz, Lena Melander, and Zandra Petersson is rewarded an Einar as they in just over a year have managed to get the unit to integrate a sustainable mindset – and more importantly, actually started working with sustainability, from several important aspects. Collaborations have been initiated with both other units and departments at Karolinska Institutet as well as with healthcare agencies within Region Stockholm, which provides the conditions for spreading the work and being able to implement it further., Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 2025
  • May flower diploma, 2013

Supervision

  • Anahita Geranmayeh Orumieh, Internet based psychological interventions for migrants from Afghanistan and other Farsi-speaking countries, 2022
  • Youstina Demetry, Internet-based psychological interventions for Arabic speaking teenagers, young adults and parents, 2021
  • Robert Schibbye, Specific phobia in dentistry, origin, prevalence and treatment for children and adolescents
  • Markus Höglund, Tandvårdsrädsla hos vuxna ur tandvårdspersonalens perspektiv

Committee work

Thesis evaluation

Journal reviewing

Other expert reviewer/evaluation assignment

  • Reviewer or advisor for other scientific bodies, Scientific advisor for psychiatry process of care among refugees and migrant with PTSDPTSD, Region Stockholm, 2024
  • Other evaluation assignments, Evaluation of the implementation of mental health interventions targeting newly arrived migrants, Karolinska Institutet, 2024
  • Reviewer or advisor for other scientific bodies, Expert in the advisory board for the Unite Ukraine project, led by Save The Children Sweden, during 2022- 2023., Save the children Sweden, 2022-2023
  • Other evaluation assignments, Psychological Department's Agenda 2030 funding, Karolinska Institutet, 2021

Conference/event participation

  • Invited speaker, World Health Summit Regional Meeting in New Delhi, Migration And Health In A Changing World: The Impact Of Climate Change Host : World Health Summit Academic Alliance, The Lancet Regional Health – Europe Description : Beyond its direct health impacts, climate change exacerbates population movements and displacement, escalating health risks, disrupting access to healthcare, and affecting the social determinants of health. The WHS Academic Alliance (WHSAA) and The Lancet Regional Health Europe (TLRHE) established a Commission on Health, Migration and Climate Change in 2024. While focusing on the European Context, the Commission is set within a global perspective to examine impacts of climate change on patterns of migration
  • health needs of migrants and the impacts of climate change
  • and responses, taking a social determinants of health approach. The session will summarise and discuss the results. Climate change is the greatest threat to health in 21st Century and represents an urgent, escalating challenge affecting all populations globally. Climate change, migration and health are individually very complex systems and the intersection of these three systems is also extremely complex. Each system is subject to a multitude of poly-directional connections and channels of influence. Policy-makers, as well as administrators and officials involved in setting and implementing policies related to each of these systems need to be aware of these complexities as they assess present needs, anticipate trends and future needs, and plan their responses. The work of the Commission on Climate Change, Migration and Health is being led by four Working Groups, involving over 40 Commissioners drawn from WHO global and regional offices, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), academia and NGOs. They are focusing on (1) the global context: health, migration, and climate change
  • (2) impacts of climate change on patterns of migration to and within Europe
  • (3) health needs of migrants: the impacts of climate change
  • and (4) European responses – a social determinants of health approach. The overall aim is to deepen understanding of the nexus of climate change, migration and health and to highlight trends and challenges that can inform policy options. Commission members will present summaries of the findings to date from the Working Groups, set in the context of their own research and experience working in the fields of health, migration and climate change, and will engage in discussion of their policy significance Expected key policy implications from the session : Policies will need to be developed to take account of increasing migration within and between countries and regions as a result of climate change. The health of both static populations and those who migrate will be affected in diverse ways, creating needs for adapting the scale of health services, tuning of the content of the services to meet changing patterns of physical and mental health those affected, and revision of the training of health and social service professionals to better meet the needs. Critical data relating to each of the areas of health, migration, and climate change is often lacking. Better provision for collection and collation of data is needed, as well as policies to give greater priority to research on the nexus of these three intersecting systems. Co-Chairs : Luciano Saso Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Stephen Matlin Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, London, UK Speakers : Santino Severoni WHO, Geneva Poonam Dhavan IOM Pooja Jha Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, Co-chair of The Lancet Group for Racial Equity (GRacE), The Lancet Group, Munich, Germany Lukoye Atwoli The Aga Khan University Bernadette Kumar Norwegian Institute of Public Health Shervin Shahnavaz Karolinska institutet, Stockholm Amirhossein Takian Tehran University of Medical Scienceshttps://whsnewdelhi2025.com/, https://whsnewdelhi2025.com/, Migration And Health In A Changing World: The Impact Of Climate Change, https://whsnewdelhi2025.com/program-overview.php, 2025
  • Chair, KI´s Sustainability Day– “Planetary boundaries + health”, Shervin Shahnavaz. Photo: Rebecka Uhlin “There is a need to meet across disciplinary and organizational boundaries and discuss sustainability issues in a broader context. With this Sustainability Day, we want to promote employees' awareness and commitment to environmental and sustainability work at Karolinska Institutet.” “Sustainability Day strengthens and develops existing networks in the area of ​​environment, climate and sustainable development, but also provides an opportunity to develop new ones. The purpose of the day is to attract, involve and inspire more employees and students to make KI even more sustainable by spreading knowledge and setting good examples.” What are your expectations for the day? “The expectations are that visitors will be inspired, learn more about planetary boundaries from a KI and health perspective, expand their network, get a better understanding of global events of importance for sustainability work, learn about what sustainable and climate-friendly healthcare means, and become more argumentative, not least through rhetorical and communicative skills.” “KI conducts research in health from a sustainability perspective in many ways, while the organization strives to reduce the negative environmental and climate impact that KI's operations cause. We have many good examples from different parts of the operation that we would like to share to inspire.” How did you come up with this year's theme? “Planetary boundaries is a concept introduced in KI's new action plan for the environment and sustainable development 2025–2027. The action plan is being developed as we speak and is expected to be ready in the spring. The concept shows in a concrete way nine planetary boundaries within which we can ensure a safe and healthy development for life on Earth.” “Inspiration for the theme also came from the prestigious Virchow Prize in Global Health, which in 2024 went to professors Johan Rockström, who is one of the researchers behind planetary boundaries, and Lucy Gilson, who is a health systems researcher, ” says Shervin Shahnavaz, vice chair of the Council for Environment and Sustainable Development., https://news.ki.se/kis-sustainability-day-2-april-planetary-boundaries-health, KIs hållbarhetsdag- planetär gränser+hälsa, https://news.ki.se/ester-gubi-and-ann-liljas-receive-the-ki-sustainability-prize-2025, 2025
  • Event administrator, What's good for us is good for the planet, Explore how human health and the health of the planet are connected – meet researchers and innovators, listen to expert talks, and experience interactive exhibitions. Welcome to an evening co-organised by Tekniska, WWF and the University Alliance Stockholm Trio - Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University, where we dive into the connections between human and planetary health. Explore interactive exhibitions, attend an expert panel on sustainable food, and meet researchers, students, and innovators who are shaping a more sustainable world. The event is free and open to the public, As a representative of Karolinska Institute at The Cell (cooperation between The National Museum of Science and Technology and KI) , Shervin Shahnavaz has contributed to the organization of this event at The National Museum of Science and Technology., https://www.tekniskamuseet.se/pa-gang/planetar-halsa-det-som-ar-bra-for-oss-ar-bra-for-planeten/, 2025
  • Participant, World Health Summit Berlin 2024, The World Health Summit is the unique international strategic forum for global health. It brings together stakeholders from politics, science, the private sector and civil society from around the world to set the agenda for a healthier future by inspiring innovative solutions for better health and wellbeing for all. This year’s World Health Summit will focus on the theme Building Trust for a Healthier World, 2024
  • Participant, Global Mental Health Research, Workshop, https://www.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/training/summer, 2024
  • Participant, Advanced Study Institute in Cultural Psychiatry, McGill University, The Future of Cultural Psychiatry: Virtuality, Imagination, and Community at Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, https://www.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/training/advanced, 2024
  • Poster presenter of own accepted abstract, The Future of Cultural Psychiatry: Virtuality, Imagination, and Community, Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University A public Conference (June 28) directed to mental health practitioners, researchers, and students will include selected workshop presentations and panel discussions as well as a poster session, https://www.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/training/advanced, 2024
  • Expert panel, Going beyond symptom change: Promoting flourishing virtues and social changes, Ottawa University, https://www.psychotherapyresearch.org/page/spr2024schedule, Compassion in Post-Migration Stress: Applying Compassion to Chronicity, https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.psychotherapyresearch.org/resource/resmgr/imported/events/annualmeeting_progs/spr_meeting_program_2024.pdf, 2024
  • Invited speaker, SPR 55th International Annual Meeting, Cultivating Compassion to our Environment, https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.psychotherapyresearch.org/resource/resmgr/imported/events/annualmeeting_progs/spr_meeting_program_2024.pdf, 2024
  • Oral presenter of own accepted abstract, SweSRII – The 13th Swedish Congress on Internet Interventions, https://esrii.org/?page=swesrii#:~:text=The%20Congress%20will%20be%20held, There%20is%20no%20conference%20fee!, Individually tailored ICBT for immigrants with common mental health problems, https://esrii.org/files/SweSRII2024-Agenda.pdf?r=2, 2024
  • Chair, “Inclusive Digitalization for Mental Health and Well-being: How Do We Get There Together?”, https://www.healthsystemsdesign.com/konferens-digitalisering/, Inkluderande digitalisering för psykisk hälsa – utveckling och samverkan med ideella hjälporganisationer, https://www.healthsystemsdesign.com/konferens-digitalisering/, 2024
  • Event administrator, KI Sustainability Day 2024: Environmentally and climate smart choices for better health from an EU and KI perspective, KI Sustainability Day 2024: Environmentally and climate-smart choices for better health from an EU and KI perspective, https://nyheter.ki.se/kalender/kis-hallbarhetsdag-2024-miljo-och-klimatsmarta-val-for-battre-halsa-i-ett-eu-och-ki-perspektiv, 2024
  • Invited speaker, The annual congress of the Swedish Behavioral Therapy Association, "CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF CBT" With the increased cultural diversity in Sweden, the need to adapt CBT to a population with a diversified background increases. In many cases, this adaptation is necessary to reduce the barriers to psychological care and make CBT available to more people in society and the world. The seminar highlights different strategies to consider and integrate cultural and contextual factors both in the functional analysis and the treatment process, which can increase the patient's commitment and compliance and improve the outcome of CBT., https://www.beteendeterapeutiska.org/arskongress-2024#!event/2024/3/9/klicka-h-228-r-f-246-r-att-k-246-pa-biljett-till-229-rskongressen-2024, CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF CBT, https://www.beteendeterapeutiska.org/presentationstexter2024, 2024
  • Poster presenter of own accepted abstract, Karolinska Institutet – UNICEF Joint Conference on Global Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Raha-a Digital Psychological Intervention for Young Refugees and Immigrants, 2024
  • Invited speaker, The International Association of Paediatric Dentistry (IAPD), 29th edition of the congress, Maastricht, https://iapd2023.org/scientific-program/#Day-1-Program, https://iapd2023.org/scientific-program/#Day-1-Program, 2023
  • Chair, Dissertation Tove Wahlund, Excessive worry in adolescents and adults : development and evaluation of theory-driven treatments, dissertation chairman, https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/handle/10616/47012, 2020

News from KI

Events from KI

Audio-visual media

News from external media

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